Eight case sizes carry this ground, from 28mm up to 44mm, which is more than any other dial the catalogue builds. White appears in steel, in all three two-metal combinations and in solid gold in every tone, and it is the one ground with no preference about which metal it sits in. Reference 126331 is the 41mm Datejust in a combination of stainless steel and Everose gold, carrying a fluted bezel, and this configuration pairs a plain white dial with a full set of Roman numerals and a Jubilee bracelet. It is the most widely built dial in the range, in the most decorated form this reference offers, which makes the combination both entirely ordinary and, in this metal at this size, considerably narrower than it looks.
The Jubilee is built from five-piece links with the gold running in three narrow inner strips, distributing the warm metal across the wrist rather than concentrating it in a single line, and it articulates more freely than a three-piece link so the bracelet follows the wrist rather than holding its shape. A larger case carries more weight and a bracelet bending with the arm spreads it further, which is why the Jubilee tends to wear slightly smaller than its diameter suggests and the Oyster wears exactly its size. Above it the rim is Everose gold cut into flutes. Both components break their metal into repeating units and both catch light in sequence, which makes this the busiest metalwork the reference offers on a watch with no stones anywhere on it. The dial is a plain white with gold Roman numerals at the hours. Against a bracelet and a rim both working this hard, a pale flat ground is what keeps the watch legible, because it gives the numerals maximum separation and provides the one large area on the piece that is not returning light in pieces. The gold in the numerals, the gold in the flutes and the gold in the bracelet strips are the same metal in three different treatments, which is more than any other configuration on the reference manages. None of the three is a stone, which is worth stating plainly on a watch that looks this decorated: everything ornamental here is metal that has been shaped, and the only two grounds the reference sets are the ones made for the alloy.
Hours, minutes, running seconds and a date changing in a single step at midnight. The self-winding movement in the 41mm case holds roughly seventy hours of running time, from a movement built for this diameter rather than shared with the smaller cases, and that reserve covers a weekend off the wrist. The date sits at three under a magnifying lens and takes a position that would otherwise carry a numeral, so the set runs to ten characters. Roman numerals identify their own positions rather than merely marking them, which means the dial can be read without reference to the hands at all, and on a pale ground with gold characters that reading is quick in any light. It is also the arrangement putting the most metal on the dial of any unset configuration here: ten full characters occupy considerably more surface than twelve applied batons, and every one of them is visible at all times rather than catching light in turn. On a watch where the rim and the bracelet are both in motion, having the markers hold still is worth more than it would be on a plainer reference. The seventy hours belong to the same generation as this case and are the specification a buyer is most likely to notice without looking for it, since the movement that preceded it would not survive a weekend in a drawer.
On this reference the marker set is decided by whether the ground was made for the metal. Chocolate and sundust were developed alongside the Everose alloy and take applied markers; white, bright black and mint green come from the wider range and take Roman numerals; slate takes an arrangement of its own with a baton at nine. The four references at this size that are not Everose invert that, offering all three borrowed grounds with applied markers as well, so a white dial with numerals at 41mm narrows the field to the two Everose references immediately. Counting both bracelets and both rims, that is four watches in total. Within this reference white is one of eight grounds and one of six carrying no stones, since only chocolate and sundust are offered set, and the smooth twin 126301 builds the identical eight. Across the range the ground reaches further than any other, which makes the narrowness of the field in this particular metal worth knowing. A listing reading white dial with Roman numerals could describe any of dozens of watches across the catalogue, and only the reference number establishes which case it is attached to. That is the ordinary condition of the widest-built ground in the catalogue, and the reason a buyer comparing white dials has to compare references rather than descriptions.
This is the configuration a buyer arrives at by wanting nothing in particular, and that is not a criticism. A white dial, gold numerals, a warm two-metal case, a cut rim and the more decorative of the two bracelets is the most conventional 41mm Datejust that can be specified in this metal, and conventional at this size means legible, unfussy and difficult to date. Anyone who wants the watch cooler should take the mint green or the slate, the two grounds here holding a cool tone. Anyone who wants it warmer should take the chocolate, which was made for this alloy. Anyone who wants applied markers on this ground will have to leave the Everose references. And anyone who wants less gold in view should take the Oyster, where the same metal runs as one line rather than three strips and broad brushed steel takes over most of the wrist.
